CATS at Hogwarts
by FireFangirls
Summary: What happens when you try to do a musical at Hogwarts? Usually, stuff burns down, explodes and people end up with water melon heads. But Gabi is determined to perform a musical and nothing is going to stop her. During fifth year, emotions run high and relationships are complicated between friends and crushes. Can Gabi and her friends pull off this musical with so many distractions
1. Chapter 1: Gabi

Chapter 1

The sun streamed through our dark red curtains. I did not want to get up and face the uninviting task which awaited me.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up! I need to eat! Food! Food! Food!" Bella's brown hair swished in and out of my field of vision. "I NEED TO EAT!" She stuck her face in front of mine, her rectangle glasses almost falling off her face.

"Ok! Ok, I'm getting up. I swear." I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Grrr. Of course Bella chose to wake me up on a Saturday. For food, of all things. I dragged myself out of the warm, heavy comforters and opened the trunk at the foot of my bed. I grabbed a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and some converse+socks and locked myself in the bathroom. I washed my face with icy, refreshing water, pulled on my clothes, and added some chap stick and mascara. I have a no-make up rule for myself. I think it's stupid the way some people slather on the stuff. I yanked my brush through my hair thick and pulled it into a high ponytail. I stared at my reflection and sighed. I have light brown hair with natural blond highlights and grey-blue eyes. My nose is a little big, and I have red, full lips. My eyebrows are thick like my eyelashes. I shook myself out of my daze.

"Ok, I'm good." I said as I walked out of the bathroom and grabbed my wand. Whew. 3 minutes flat. And on a weekend too. We stomped down to the common room, making sure to wake up all of my friends in my dorm. I am about to push open the portrait hole when a voice stops me.  
"Well if it isn't Saba, aka Bronchitis." Hunter's voice carried across the room as people snickered.

"Oh will you give it a rest Hunter? That is just about the worst nickname I have ever heard. Who calls a Broncos fan Bronchitis? Why does it matter to you if I support a muggle sport?! Who do you support anyways? Probably some stupid Quidditch team, you have no idea about the other five hundred sports in the muggle world that are just as good!" I reflexively defended myself, and spun around to see the culprit stalking across the commons with an idiotic smirk on his face. His brown hair was carefully combed, as always and his green eyes danced mischievously.

Hunter was a good for nothing idiot who took pleasure in tormenting me every day. Most people liked him for his jokes, and he was pretty popular, except for with me. Well… he is good for a laugh. Except for when he makes fun of my football team. Then I swear, it takes every ounce of self control I have not to hex him into oblivion.

"Oh ignore him, he's just full of bull. Lots and lots of bull." Bella said, and yanked me through the portrait-hole.

The morning was windy, blowing peoples pointed hats every which way. I delayed my inevitable task as long as I could, pretending I had left my potions book on my desk, acting as though Peeves had stolen my favorite necklace and so on. I tried anything and everything to keep me away from McGonagall's office. Bella humored me for a while, but after I ran all the way to the Ravenclaw commons room under the pretense of having seen my friend Linde going inside while Bella knew perfectly well that Linde was eating breakfast, she decided enough was enough and practically dragged me towards the headmistress's office.

"Bella, she's going to refuse, I know she will! The last time Professor Kettleburn tried it, things burned down and exploded."

"Gabriela Saba, you are going in there and asking her, and mark my words, I will hex you if you don't."

"Why don't you do it?" I spat.

"Because it's not my idea, and McGonagall always says to take credit for your own ideas." She smirked, then shoved me towards the stone gargoyle guarding the door. I took a deep breath, then said, "Can-I-please-speak-to-Professor-McGonagall-it-is-very-important."

"Excuse me? I didn't catch that." The stone gargoyle had a puzzled look on his face, if that was possible.

"I said, could I please speak to Professor McGonagall? It is very important."

"I will see what I can do." The gargoyle replied haughtily.

I turned around, expecting to see Bella, but she had vanished long ago.

"Great. Thanks for the support Bella. I love you too." I muttered.

"What was that, Miss Saba?" Professor McGonagall stood before me, her hair tightly drawn back in her usual bun. She peered sternly over her glasses before beckoning me in and riding up the staircase. She led me through a wood door and beckoned for me to sit in a stiff backed chair in front of the headmaster's desk. "I hope whatever it is you have to tell me is important. I have the minister coming at noon. Well, get on with it!"

"Well Professor… I love the arts… you know, drama and such. And, well, I was wondering if we could, um, maybe, do a musical here?" I was starting to gain confidence. "I honestly think it could work, Professor, and I would organize it, and I would do the practices and it would be strictly non magical, except for the lighting and sets and all, but no magic in the actual musical and dancing and singing."

"Miss Saba, this kind of project shall take much effort and require adult supervision! I cannot think of any benefits that could outweigh the cons."

"I can! There are so many kids here who have potential talent and nothing, I mean NOTHING, in Hogwarts promotes Drama, the arts, music or anything! It makes me so mad! I think that everyone would jump at the chance to do this."

McGonagall considered. I looked around the room properly for the first time since entering. It was large and circular, with big windows and a cozy fireplace across from the desk. Portraits of previous headmasters surrounded the room. The portrait of Dumbledore winked at me, and said to Professor McGonagall, "Why not have the students decide, Minerva? I feel this would be more prudent and probably more effective. It could also help you decide how the student body would react overall to this… project."

"True…" McGonagall showed no surprise on having the painted Albus Dumbledore give her advice. In fact, it seemed like this was quite a normal procedure. "I will ask each head of house to post a flyer explaining the project, which you will write. Then we shall place a bucket underneath and a stack of tokens. Each student will say either 'Red' to disagree with the idea or 'Green' to agree. Will this suit your needs?"

"Oh, of course!" I was elated. It was more I could ever ask for. McGonagall waved her wand. Four buckets appeared, about 200 tokens in each one, each a strange greyish color. I grabbed them, jumped up, and headed for the door. "Thank you so much Professor!" I called over my shoulder. I heard her chuckle as I raced down the stairs. Soon, I was in the common room, yelling, "BELLA! SHE ACCEPTED!"

"AHHHHH REALLY? IM SO EXCITED! THIS IS JUST AMAZING, RIGHT SO I GET A LEAD ROLE RIGHT? I WANT DEMETER. OR GRIZABELLA. OR SOMETHING. I DUNNO. ARGH! I HAVE TO PRACTICE. EEEEP!" Bella came flying down the stair screaming.

"Keep it down, will you?" A fourth year yelled across the room.

"LIKE HELL WE WILL!" Bella screamed back, "AND BY THE WAY, WE ARE A YEAR OLDER THAN YOU, SO SHUT YOUR TRAP!"

The girl narrowed her eyes and stalked over. Oh great. Rose Weasley, a perfect daughter of the famous Hermione Weasley who helped Harry Potter defeat Voldemort, was out to get us. "And what has happened that requires so much screaming?" she asked us in a quiet voice that suggested, "_you are so dead". _

"A MUSICAL! HOGWARTS IS GOING TO HAVE A MUSICAL!" Crap. I forgot to tell Bella that its only if the students agree.

"Actually…" I proceeded to explain the compromise McGonagall and I had made. By that time, all of the Gryffindors were listening and whispering to each other excitedly.

"I'll get the lead for the guy part I hope. After all, there is no one who is more better looking, has a better voice or dances better than me." Hunter draped his arm across my shoulders and looked at me pleadingly.

"Auditions, pretty boy, auditions. And with all my heart, I hope that you don't even make it." I said and twisted around and punched his arm.

"Actually Hunter, I can think of someone infinitely more talented than you. And that's… me!" Allow me to introduce James Potter, the only guy in our year more bigheaded than Hunter. Nah, he's all right and sometimes fun to hang around, but can be a pain in the back. He walked up and shoved Hunter out of the way. Hunter pushed back. Both guys glared at each other before laughing and slapping each other on the back. James glanced at me before joking to Hunter, "I don't think we stand a chance of getting into the musical if she's deciding. Oh, the tragedy of it all! To think, the most talented actors in Hogwarts left out, all because one person thinks they're annoying!"

"And big-headed," I added.

"And egotistical." Bella said.

"And stupid." Sahej commented, swinging her long, straight black hair over her shoulder. She had quietly snuck up on us and made all of us jump in the air when she had talked.

"Well that's it for us. Looks like we're done for Hunter. We'll never be like again, and my acting career is over." James sorrowfully shook his head in mock sadness.

"Yeah, with these three around, they'll manipulate everyone into thinking we're awful, big headed, egotistical idiots! And we'll never find a spot in the musical." Hunter sunk into a couch and then yanked me down with him.

"You forgot stupid, Hunter, now you shouldn't leave any adjectives out, it might raise people's opinions of us." James said and jumped down beside us.

I pushed them both away got up and walked to the billboard. I put the bucket on a table below the bulletin board and then walked back to the couch. I sat down and tried to work on my poster, which is pretty hard to do when you are sitting next to the two biggest jokesters in Hogwarts. I swear, I moved everywhere, but they followed me from one couch to the next, knowing I was on the verge of cursing them, and enjoying every minute. When I turned Hunter's hair bright blue, they decided to pick on Bella instead. I finally got the poster done and pinned the baby blue paper to the bulletin board. I tracked down Linde, Oksana and Zaina in the Library soon afterwards. Linde is a Ravenclaw, so I gave her a bucket and poster to put in the common room. Oksana was to put hers in the Hufflepuff common room, and Zaina was going to put her bucket and poster in the Slytherin common room. When I got back to the Gryffindor common room, almost half of the tokens had been turned red or green. There was a line of people still waiting to turn their token a color. I had missed lunch when I was busy making my poster but soon dinner came around. I spotted Linde over at the Ravenclaw table and waved. She jumped up and came running.

"How do you think we are gonna manage this Gabs?" Only she could call me Gabs and she knew it. Mainly because she is one of the only people who is not intimidated by me. Bella, James and Hunter make up the rest of that list.

"Easily."

"YOU DO REALISE WE HAVE OWLS AT THE END OF THIS YEAR, RIGHT? THE PROFESSORS ARE GIVING US INFORMATION THAT WILL BE CRUCIAL TO OUR FLIPPING CAREERS!"

"Calm down Linz, you know I got this."

"We are all going to fail because of this musical! Oh by the way, guess what?"

"What now?"

"Slawek actually asked Fox out! To Hogsmeade!"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS BEFORE? Did you think grades were more important than teasing Oksana!?" Fox, aka Oksana, is another of my 'besties' and she has had a major crush on this polish guy, Sławek (pronounced swavick). We tease her day and night about it. I rushed over to the Hufflepuff table.  
"OKSANA TEJCHMAN IS GOING OUT WITH SŁAWEK!" I screamed. Slawek turned bright red at the Ravenclaw table. Oksana slapped me across the face.  
"Shut up you stupid idiot!" she hissed.

"Oksy has a boyfriend, Oksy has a boyfriend!" I sang.

"If you don't shut up I will tell all of Gryffindor you have a crush."

"In case you haven't noticed, that's not true!" I laughed.

"Oh, but I can make one up can't I?" Fox grinned evilly.

"EVIL! I swear to God, I will get Linde and we will kill you if you do that." I said, only half joking.

"Rictumsempra!" Oksana pointed her wand at me. I immediately doubled over wheezing. "Expelliarmus!" I cried. Her wand soared over to me, breaking the spell. "I swear, I am going to kill you!" I yelled at her.

"You might want to go have dinner. Before you kill me." Oksana said, then held out a hand for her wand. I obligingly placed it in her open palm.

"Might want to kiss Slawek good bye Fox, I doubt you'll live much longer!" I sprinted away from the table before she could register what I had said. I slipped across the Great Hall and into a seat next to Sahej and Bella. Unfortunately, that meant we were across from James and Hunter.

"Jeez, Saba, you have a set of lungs. Tone it down next time. Its not that we wouldn't like to see Tejchman killed or anything, but we would really like to be able to say that we don't know who did it, and say it truthfully." Hunter joked at me.

"Ah shut up Wolfe. We all know how much you would love to see me kicked out of Hogwarts."

"Yeah I would too!" Bella snorted. "Stuff would be so much quieter."

"As if you're one to be talking, Malek! You wake up half the school with your screaming in the morning." James slammed his fist on the table to emphasize his mock frustration with her.

"Potter, we hear parties in your dorm at 3:00 am when you're supposed to be sleeping. ALL of Hogwarts can't sleep because of you." Sahej intervenes.

"Well Panag, I can tell you for a fact-" Hunter starts to say when I kicked his shins. "OW! What was that for?"

"It means shut up and eat your dinner, I have to make my speech about the musical." I walked up to the staff table. "Professor McGonagall, should I talk to the students about the musical? I would love to make a few jokes about Potter… Oh dang did I say that out loud? I'm just kidding, Professor, I promise."

"No, I think I shall do that Miss Saba, thank you very much." She eyed me suspiciously. I guess she doesn't think I'm all that trustworthy. But I mean, I would never slip in an inappropriate joke in my speech. Except for maybe a laugh at Wolfe and Potter. But everybody would appreciate it! I trudged back to the table.

"What, did she not trust you to make a speech Saba?"

I smirked and replied, "Well I did hint that I might slip in a jab or two at you Potter, so I guess she felt safer making the announcement herself."

"Smart lady, she is." Seconds later, McGonagall's voice rang out across the room.

"Alright Malfoy, stop your jabbering." McGonagall glared at the

Slytherin table.

"Oh snap!" James smirked.

"Miss Saba from Gryffindor has had the idea to have a musical at our school." Cue the outbreak of cheering and stomping from the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. The Ravenclaws had more civilized cheering, a couple crying out, "Can I be the director?" The Slytherins seemed not to care, although some of the more outspoken ones booed. "I know there are many talented singers and dancers here, however we decided to ask the student body of Hogwarts wether or not they wanted to have this musical as a part of the school curriculum. We have placed a bucket in each common room…" I soon lost track of the speech and was gazing listlessly into space when James kicked me.

"McGonagall just asked you what musical!" He hissed.

"Oh dam it!" PJO reference there by the way. I jumped to my feet and cleared my throat. "We will be doing the musical CATS! CATS is a musical about well, cats. There is almost no dialogue, so you need to be a strong singer, and even stronger dancer. The auditions will be on September the twentieth if you want to be in the play. Song music will be posted in the commons for you to practice. Applications for directors will also be posted in the commons. You will have to turn them into McGonagall or me. Thanks so much guys. Turn those tokens green!" I sunk back onto the bench as people applauded. After my speech, most of the students disappeared into their common rooms. I walked slowly to the Gryffindor tower, burdened with Bella saying how certain it was that people would vote yes.

"Bella I'm really tired! Can you stop talking about that?" Of course, if Bella was a normal friend, she would have been offended. But this just made her talk even more. _What if people don't vote yes? What if no one auditions? What if you are known as a failure because you mess up in the musical? _I sped up the stairs into the dorm and quickly showered and changed. I flopped on my bed, and gazed at the heavy red canopy above me. It was so peaceful in here, and I was so tired. I slowly drifted off to sleep, with dreams of dancing tabby cats and singing toms.


	2. Chapter 2: Hunter

Now, I may not know a lot about musicals, but I was pretty sure Gabi had her work cut out for her. Not that she can't do it, because she's one of the most determined people I've met (besides that RC… Linde Majoor, I think? Yeah, that girl is like flipping Hermione Granger. And the other one, Tejchman. She is crazy.) and if anyone can do it, she can. These were the thoughts running through the back of my mind while I dressed. It's kinda hard to get dressed if you're in my dorm, cause James is always stealing your robes, jeans, underwear, you name it, and he's taken it.

"Damn it James, where's my wand!?" I cried.

"Oops sorry Hunt, guess I forgot it. It's in my trunk-" He paused as I sighed, half exasperated and half relieved it wasn't in a worse position. I walked over to the trunk and shuffled through the dirty, messed up clothes. Why was I friends with this kid again? Oh yeah. One day, we were partners in charms, and he made my ears grow to the size of an elephant's and I made him (an eleven year old) sprout a beard, which was about 20 feet long. We ended up in the hospital wing together, laughing about the whole thing. That was the time I met Gabi, too. She had gotten detention for something that wasn't her fault- somebody had dropped some Filibuster Fireworks into her cauldron, they had exploded and made a mess- and Professor Slughorn had punished her. How unfair was that? Anyways, her detention was to help in the healing wing and she was supposed to change the sheets in the bed. When she came around to our beds, she had given us a wry smile and said, "Well, looks like puberty has come a little early, huh Potter?" After that, we always teased each other, and sometimes even pranked each other. I snapped back to the present when my wand started shooting a jet of water out of its tip. James shrieked like a little girl and clambered out of the way. I waved my wand and the water vanished.

"Come on Jamsie-boy, stop being a sissy. Lets go eat," I chuckled. So much for being a brave Gryffindor. I sprinted down the stairs in time to see Bella in her Quidditch gear. Oh damn, the match! I sprinted back up. "JAMES, THE GAME IS TODAY, YOU BIG GIT, HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME!" I was furious. James laughed and pulled on his gear. I did the same, without laughing though. Then I walked over, and punched the bloody idiot in the stomach. That made him stop laughing. Soon we were on the floor, punching, kicking, and biting. The door flew open and Gabi was standing there, in her Quidditch gear, looking ready to kill us.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? THE MATCH IS IN FIVE FREAKING MINUTES GET YOUR BROOMS AND GET ONTO THE QUIDDITCH PITCH! I WOULD MAKE A BETTER CAPTAIN THAN YOU JAMES POTTER!" Gabi was flipping out on us, and it was horrifying. We had only seen her lose control one other time, and now that it was directed at us, I wanted to go and cry under my bed. I jumped up and pushed past her. I sprinted through the empty school with James thundering behind me. Gabi wasn't far behind. Soon we reached the Quidditch pitch and bolted into the locker rooms.

"Oh good, you found them!" Bella shrieked. "The match starts in less than a minute!"

Let me explain the team to you. I am a beater, along with Bella. James, Gabi and this jerk named Michael were the chasers. A buff sixth year named Jack was our keeper, and Sahej was our seeker. We shouldered our brooms as James' younger brother Albus took charge of commentating.

"AND HERE IS THE SLYTHERIN TEAM! AZIZ, COLLINS, JOHNSON, BRASHARES, MATTHEWS, MALFOY, AAAAAND PARKINSON!" The Slytherins roared in approval.

"AND NOW WELCOME OUR GRYFFINDORS! POTTER, SABA, ANDERSON, TURNER, MALEK, WOLFE AAAAAND PANAG! WOW, WE'RE IN FOR A GOOD GAME HERE! THE TWO CURRENTLY TOP TEAMS, COMPETING FOR THE QUIDDITCH CUP! THIS GAME WILL DETERMINE WHO TAKES HOME THE SHINY TROPHY!"

James turned to look at us. "Come on guys, let's do this!" We cheered then mounted our brooms. James walked forward and shook (more like crushed) the Slytherin captain's hand. She fixed him with a steely glare then mounted her broom. Madame Hooch counted down "3, 2, 1 TWEET!" And we were off, soaring through the sky, Sahej higher than the rest of us, already looking for the snitch. Gabi zoomed forward and caught the Quaffle, then passed it to James. They formed an arrow formation while I stayed behind at the goalposts. Bella soared above them, whacking away any bludgers that came flying towards them.

"AND ITS POTTER, SOARING TOWARDS THE GOAL, WITH A PASS TO SABA AND SHE SCORES!" The Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff stands erupted while the Slytherins booed. A bludger whacked by the Slytherin beater came soaring towards me and I slammed my bat into it with all my might. After a few more goals to us, it was 40-0. Sahej suddenly went into a steep dive. She's seen the snitch!

"LOOKS LIKE PANAG HAS SEEN THE SNITCH! AND SHE'S CLOSING IN…. OH BUT HERE COMES PARKINSON, SHE LOOKS DETERMINED… BUT PANAG HAS GOT THE SNITCH! AND THE GAME IS OVER!" I was so engrossed in watching the dive, that I didn't see it until it was too late.

And then I was falling, falling and someone was screaming my name. Then there was black.

I was awake, but I didn't want to let them know. I knew my Quidditch team was surrounding me, but I wasn't in the mood for sympathy or pity. I really only wanted to see two people. So far, I hadn't heard their voices. Then he spoke, saying, "Go back to your dorms guys. Get some sleep." And after I heard them leave, he said, "Go to bed Gabi." But she stayed. Soon the room was filled with snoring, which I'm guessing wasn't her.

"Hunter… you big git." She was talking to me now, voice hardened with anger. "I know you're awake, so open up your eyes and stop playing possum." I didn't open my eyes. "Maybe he is asleep." She sighs. We both know that I'm not. Why am I doing this? Maybe I want to hear what she would say. "Hunt, you have no idea. How much I was afraid. You fell and hit the ground, everyone was watching Sahej, and I thought you were dead, your arms were at such a weird angle and I…" She trailed off. I opened my eyes and saw James conked out, head crooked. Gabi was in a chair next to him, eyes on me, a tear glistening on her cheek.

"HUNTER YOU WERE AWAKE! AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME!"

"Hey, I just wanted to see what amazing, sentimental things you said about me when I was lying on my sickbed. By the way, what happened to me?"

"Sahej caught the snitch, and one of those idiot Slytherin beaters hit a bludger at you. No one noticed until you were halfway down the pitch. You broke both arms, and got a nasty concussion. Madame Pomfrey wasn't sure if you would wake up for a while. She said it was possible you would stay in a coma.. for.. for a long time."

"How long?" I pressed.

"I- I don't- 2 or three months." She was shaking. "And she said when you woke up, you might not remember us." Her face was pale, but she wasn't crying, which I appreciated. I sat up in bed, ignoring the painful throbbing in my head.

"I think I remember you well enough. You're Gabriela Saba, in fifth year, who thinks I'm a bloody idiot, who yelled at me this morning because I was fighting with James, and I don't stand a chance of getting into the musical because you're in charge. 'Auditions, pretty boy, auditions!'" I mocked her scornful tone. She stared at me for a few seconds, and I was pretty sure I was about to get socked in the stomach, injury or no. Then she burst out laughing, and shook James saying, "James wake up! Hunters awake."

James stirred sleepily and swatted her hand away. "Tell him he's a bloody pig and I hope he dies."

"Nice to see you too." I smirked.

"Yeah, well. You freaked all of us out and I would kill you if I wasn't so tired after nursing you."

"James Potter, all you did was watch him and complain about how stupid he is for getting hit in the head with a bludger." Gabi scolded.

"Hey Jamsie-boy, I'm feeling kinda reckless… what do you say, we get out of this place." A sly grin crept across my face.

"How about no." I stared at him in shock. This was the first time James had ever turned down a stupid, fun, reckless trip.

"We have been worried sick about you. You could've not remembered us. You could have died, which Gabi was too kind to tell you. And you want to sneak out and possibly worsen your injury? Or get another one? And you want me to have that on my conscience? STOP BEING SO BLOODY SELFISH AND THINK ABOUT OTHERS FOR ONCE!" James raged in a way I had never seen. Gabi backed away, saying, "I'm kinda, tired, um, I'll just be going now." But James didn't notice her. He was still going, full steam. "And you know what? THE WHOLE TIME YOU WERE IN THIS BED, ALL I COULD THINK WAS, WHAT IF HE DIES, AND THE LAST THING I DID WAS FIGHT WITH HIM? WHAT IF HE DOESN'T REMEMBER ME AND THE LAST THING I DID WAS YELL AT YOU? DO YOU THINK I COULD LIVE WITH THAT?! NO!" James was screaming, spit flying from his mouth like a rabid animal. "YOU HAVE NO IDEA!"

I was shocked beyond words at this outburst from James. But then it sunk in. The full meaning. I could be dead, in another place, without my friends or family. And they would be without me.

"Sorry, but you're just going to have to stay here." With that, James pushed his chair aside and left me alone in the cold, dark infirmary.


	3. Chapter 3: James

I was furious at Hunter, but it didn't in the least excuse me from yelling at him. And it was in front of Gabi, too. I sunk against the cold, stone wall in front of the portrait hole. Then I took a deep breath and said,

"Diringbell."

"Yes, yes my dear!" the Fat Lady twittered. I climbed through the hole and towards my dorm.

"James… you can't blame Hunter for what happened. You know he didn't choose to be hit by a bludger." Gabi gripped my arm. I broke inside.

"I know- he just doesn't realize how much he means to us. Or to me." She looked as broken as I felt when I said this. Oh crap, I didn't mean to make her feel worse. I wrapped my arms around her and put my head on her shoulder, my face covered by her hair. She tentatively hugged me back. I think she knew how much I needed to know someone was there that understood me.

"Go to bed, ok? I'll deal with Hunter in the morning. By that I mean apologize, I promise." I said, my voice muffled by her shoulder. Then we broke away and headed for our dorms opposite the room. I cleared away the junk off my bed. I've known Gabi for a long time, but she doesn't understand Hunter like I do. I knew it would be hard for him to apologize. It's hard for me to apologize too.

My dreams replayed Hunter falling off his broom, and Madame Pomfrey's serious face as she said, "I'm afraid he might not remember you when he comes to." I wake up with tears on my face. I have to go to class but I would rather stay here with my thoughts and sulk. The door opens and Bella pokes her head in.

"RISE AND SHINE! BREAKFAST TIME!" She cries. What right does she have to come barging into my room? I groaned and rolled onto the floor.

Ten minutes later, I was down in the great hall, my hair even messier than usual. How did Gabi survive in a dorm with Bella? I spotted Gabi sitting next to Sahej and Bella, chatting away. I snuck up behind them until I was right next to her.

"Did you have to send BELLA as a wake up call?" I demanded. She jumped in her seat. She spun around and grinned a lopsided smile at me.

"I knew you wouldn't get up if I called…"

"Not true." I said and sat down across from her. Yeah that's right, I climbed across the table, and sat across from them. Problem?

"Hey Jamsie-boy. Sorry about last night." Hunter's cocky voice made me start. I whirled around.

"Yeah," I managed to croak out, "Yeah me too, Hunt." He wrapped me in a bear hug, almost choking me.

"Well now that you guys are back to being best buds, I have good news!" Gabi said, elation spreading on her face. "The musical was approved! Auditions are on!"

"WHAT?! I need to practice so that I get the lead role!" I feigned concern. "By the way, who are the characters?" She gave an exasperated sigh, but hey, I was actually saying the truth. But, I mean, there was only three more days and I had to memorize a whole song! I grabbed a few pieces of toast and stuffed them in my mouth. Then I dashed back to the commons room and looked at the envelope with all of the character's songs in it. I shuffled through them, and quickly found the perfect character. The Rum Tum Tugger, an arrogant, cocky, top of the line cat who had a lions mane. Amazing! I took the song out and would have within two hours, had it memorized. But of course, I had stupid classes so I had to sprint to Charms.

Professor Flitwick loves me, so I had no problem coming up with an excuse as I sat next to Fred Weasley (the second) and Hunter. "Sorry sir, I volunteered to help out in the Potions classroom and Professor Slughorn kept me late."

"Oh of course my dear boy! No trouble, no trouble at all! Now class," Flitwick squeaked as he stood on his pile of books, "we will be learning the water charm! The incantation is Aguamenti!" I was eager to try it, so before the charms teacher told me to start, I cried the incantation. A jet of water burst out of my wand, just like Hunter's did when it was in my trunk. I pointed my wand at Hunter who was immediately knocked over by the force.

The class was in chaos, everyone scrambling out of my way. I laughed and turned my wand on Freddie, who shrieked and ducked under his desk.

"James you idiot! Stop-" Bella was cut off by another jet of water issuing from Hunter's wand. She toppled over screaming, "I will kill all of you!" Hunter and I whirled around the room, jumping on desks and laughing insanely. Until Hunter's jet of water hit poor Flitwick, who was trying to get things into order in the classroom. I stopped the water immediately, as did Hunter.

The class went deathly still, the only sound my own ragged breathing.

Flitwick stood up slowly and walked to his desk. He grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled something on it, each movement seeming extremely exaggerated. Damn it all! Why did that bloody professor have to get in the way?!

"Take this," Flitwick said in a low tone-or at least as low as his squeaky voice could get-, "To Professor McGonagall." He then shoved Hunter and me out of the charms class with the stupid piece of parchment. I picked myself up and trudged down the hallway with my clothes dripping wet and the piece of parchment weighing down my steps. We didn't speak until McGonagall came out of her office and read the note.

"Detention Potter, for five days with Slughorn. Don't try to worm your way out of it or else you will have detention with me. Detention for you too Wolfe, with Professor Sprout. Both of your detentions start tonight. I am sorely disappointed in both of you." She peered sternly over her spectacles. The bell rang precisely when she was done talking, and we walked off without a word.

Later that day, I was in the common rooms, mulling over things. Then I realized something. The detentions would prevent me from trying out in the musical! I rushed over to where Gabi was sitting, translating some really difficult Runes.

"Gabi! Professor McGonagall put me in detention for all this week!" I shook her, making her splatter ink all over the parchment,

"JAMES! I WAS WORKING ALL NIGHT ON THAT!" She death glared at me.

I continued, unfazed. "That means I won't be able to try out for the musical! And neither will Hunter!"

"Crap! I'm so sorry James! I didn't realize... I know you wanted to be a part of it." She looked truly lost and sorry for me.

"Could you maybe postpone auditions?" I asked her hopefully. She craned her neck around to look at me.

"I'm sorry James, but the audition dates are the best I can do because I have to work around all of the Quidditch practice dates and the games, and the Hogsmeade weekend coming up at the beginning of October. And the Gobstones club and the Charms help club. And about a million other things." She slumped in her chair. I could tell that planning this had really taken the wind out of her.

"It's fine." But it wasn't. I wanted to dance, and sing and be the best actor on the stage. I wanted to see what drama was like, and not just the _Omg, he asked out her and not me! _stuff. I wanted to be in the musical so badly. Before I realized I wouldn't be able to audition, I guess I was like: Meh whatever, musical, should be fun. Guess I'll try out.

But now, I felt like acting should be a part of my soul.

Jeez, with those kinds of speeches, I really could be an actor. I guess it's in my blood. Maybe I'll grow up and be an actor instead of a Quidditch player. Ever since I was really little, I had wanted to be the best chaser around, kind of like how my dad was the best seeker in centuries. It's hard having a Quidditch famous mom and dad. People always expect you to live up to them. Albus didn't- but he's more of a booky type. I have so far. Sure, I'm not the greatest chaser in history, but I'm pretty good. And most people think I live up to James Potter the first's reputation. Cocky, arrogant and funny. Oh yeah, and the life of a party.

But that night while I was tossing in my sheets, I couldn't help thinking, _What if I just blew my chance to discover my real talent?_


End file.
